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Art
influences on tourists |
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Down town Akureyri
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The
people I talked to were surprised by the quality of the art
hanging in public areas. One
said not a single public telephone was working in the whole country due to vandalism
but at the same time
there are works of
art everywhere you look, paintings in the rooms of the guesthouses
and sculptures both in and outside. |
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Sculptures are left undisturbed whilst not a
single public telephone works due to vandalism
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Many
mentioned that art works in the guesthouses took them by surprise.
When they chose the guesthouse, they had no idea of the art
that they would find there. Of
the paintings
on the walls and hand made pottery plates, cups and bowls one
American female tourest said, ‘I
think it is great and something others shuld think of doing.
It is so nice, but still
so simple and calm here, I think they should try to market
themselves in this respect.’ Her friend said, ‘the artists should maybe sell their
stuff in the guest house or the guest house having information of
the artist and where it was possible to buy some of the stuff and
then the guesthouse could get some percentage of the sale.’ |
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Akureyri Guesthouse
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Not
all tourists I talked to were though so economically minded, but
all of them noticed the art and said they were pleased and
surprised to see a painting when going to the swimming pool or the
bank. They said art
was all over and started to notice it right away in the Keflavík airport
but did not realise until later how diffusive and general it was. |
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A
guesthouse owner told me that due to the cost of travel to and
around Iceland, most of the tourists were people with money who
could afford to buy paintings and works of art to remember their
stay by. Cheap
souvenirs probably don’t aesthetically satisfy people who have
travelled much.
When asked about the comments the two American women made,
he
said he did not use the pottery his wife makes and sells in a
small shop down town as a commercial for her works, but purely
because he likes it and they did not use these pieces at home. |
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The
paintings, some painted straight on the wall, are also done by
friends. He says of
course he tells people where they can find these things to buy,
which is quite often, but that is not the meaning of it. |
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